If successful, first in the world.
05/10/2013
Tiny Malta Turns to China, Says Prime Minister – Businessweek
After becoming prime minister of the tiny but strategic Mediterranean island nation of Malta in March, 39-year-old Labor Party leader Joseph Muscat has put a new priority on strengthening relations with China. This marks a major shift for the Maltese government that rules over a population of 418,000. While maintaining good relations with Beijing during their almost 25-year-tenure (apart from a brief 18-month-period in the 1990s, Labor has been out of power since 1987) the conservative Nationalist Party had focused much more on the relationship with the European Union.
PRC-Malta ties have a relatively long history. Malta was one of the first European countries to establish diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China in early 1972, then also under a Labor government. And as Malta prepared to close the military bases of its former colonial overlord Britain in the mid 1970s, it also won substantial economic aid from China (the bases were finally shut in 1979). That included providing complete factories to produce glass, textiles, and chocolate, as well as state-owned China Harbour Engineering Corporation, funding and constructing a massive 300,000-ton dry dock that berths supertankers, nicknamed the “Red China Dock,” completed in 1980 and still used today. China is now planning construction of a massive new embassy in Malta, expected to be even bigger than the large U.S. embassy.
Muscat visited China in September where he signed a memorandum of understanding that will see state-owned enterprises, China Power Investment and Shanghai Electric, invest a minority shareholding in Malta’s energy provider, aimed at producing photo-voltaic units for sale in Europe and the Mediterranean. Bloomberg Businessweek sat down for an interview with the Malta prime minister on Sept. 12th, on the sidelines of a World Economic Forum, meeting in Dalian. What follows are edited excerpts from the interview.
via Tiny Malta Turns to China, Says Prime Minister – Businessweek.
See also: https://chindia-alert.org/political-factors/geopolitics-chinese/
05/10/2013
China employs two million microblog monitors state media say – BBC News
More than two million people in China are employed by the government to monitor web activity, state media say, providing a rare glimpse into how the state tries to control the internet.
The Beijing News says the monitors, described as internet opinion analysts, are on state and commercial payrolls.
China’s hundreds of millions of web users increasingly use microblogs to criticise the state or vent anger.
Recent research suggested Chinese censors actively target social media.
The report by the Beijing News said that these monitors were not required to delete postings.
China’s internet is one of the most controlled and censored in the world.
Websites deemed to be subversive are blocked. Politically sensitive postings are routinely deleted . Even the name of the former Prime Minister Wen Jiabao was censored when rumours were circulating on the internet that his family had amassed a fortune while he was in power.
But with the rapid growth of internet users, the ruling Communist Party has found itself fighting an uphill battle.
The Beijing News, while reporting the story of microblog monitors, has admitted that it is impossible for the government to delete all “undesirable” postings.
The more postings deleted, the more they appear, it says.
China seldom reveals details about how it monitors and controls the internet. The government even does not acknowledge that it blocks web sites.
But the report does offer a rare glimpse into this opaque world.
They are “strictly to gather and analyse public opinions on microblog sites and compile reports for decision-makers”, it said. It also added details about how some of these monitors work.
Tang Xiaotao has been working as a monitor for less than six months, the report says, without revealing where he works.
“He sits in front of a PC every day, and opening up an application, he types in key words which are specified by clients.
“He then monitors negative opinions related to the clients, and gathers (them) and compile reports and send them to the clients,” it says.
The reports says the software used in the office is even more advanced and supported by thousands of servers. It also monitors websites outside China.
China rarely reveals any details concerning the scale and sophistication of its internet police force.
It is believed that the two million internet monitors are part of a huge army which the government relies on to control the internet.
The government is also to organise training classes for them for the first time from 14 to 18 October, the paper says.
via BBC News – China employs two million microblog monitors state media say.
See also: https://chindia-alert.org/2012/04/26/understanding-social-media-in-china/
04/10/2013
India Cabinet Approves Creation of Telangana State – WSJ.com
Yet another split amongst Indian states. See also: https://chindia-alert.org/2013/07/31/divide-uttar-pradesh-into-four-states-mayawati-says/
Andhra state marked in yellow which merged with Telangana in white to form the state of Andhra Pradesh (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
“The Indian government on Thursday approved the creation of a new state of Telangana out of the larger southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, hoping to quell long-standing agitation by those who argue that the region needs more independence after suffering decades of neglect.
India‘s home minister, Sushilkumar Shinde, said Hyderabad will be a common capital for both states for 10 years. A panel of ministers will be set up to work out the details of the split, he said.”
via India Cabinet Approves Creation of Telangana State – WSJ.com.
02/10/2013
Banyan: One model, two interpretations | The Economist
CHINA has long stressed that its rise as one of the world’s great powers will be “peaceful”. But it is also aware that, historically, peaceful rises are the exception. Speaking on a visit to Washington on September 20th, Wang Yi, China’s foreign minister, referred to a study of 15 different countries. In 11 cases “confrontation and war have broken out between the emerging and established powers.” So the stakes are high when Chinese leaders speak of their hopes for a “new type of great-power relations”, or, in the humbler phrase they now prefer as a translation for the Chinese formulation, “a new model of major-country relations”. American officials echo the “new model” talk. Since neither side wants confrontation and war, they can be assumed to be sincere. Less certain is whether they mean the same thing.
Xi Jinping unveiled the concept on a visit to the American capital last year, before he took over the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party. His informal “Sunnylands” summit with Barack Obama in June was portrayed as the “model” in action. As elaborated by the smooth Mr Wang in Washington, it is an admirable idea, based on Mr Xi’s formula of “no conflict or confrontation”, “mutual respect” and “win-win co-operation”. Nor is there much disagreement about how to achieve this: by reducing strategic mistrust through building habits of co-operation.
Although America and China seem to line up on the opposite sides of so many international issues, optimists can point to progress in some areas of co-operation. The two countries have in recent months avoided the periodic crises that used to test their ties. China has reacted calmly to allegations of American cyber-espionage against it, for example, enjoying the chance to turn the tables thanks to the revelations of Edward Snowden, a disaffected American former security-services contractor.
Military co-operation is also being stepped up. Next year China’s navy is to join those of America and a score of other countries in a big maritime exercise. China is negotiating an investment treaty with America. It also wants to join one American-led free-trade negotiation, the Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA), and has said it is studying another, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, once seen as part of an American effort to contain China.
On some international hotspots, too, China and America find themselves closer than for some time. America will have been pleased that China this week showed its anger with North Korea, banning a long list of items for export there. China has welcomed the agreement between America and Russia on destroying Syria’s weapons. Mr Wang raised Afghanistan, which he predicted might next year overtake Syria as a global concern, as another area with “great potential” for enhanced co-operation. This is true both because co-operation has so far been minimal, but also because, as Mr Wang pointed out, both have an interest in the country’s stability after most foreign troops leave in 2014. China worries about Islamic extremism seeping across the border to infect its own Muslim minorities, and about the security of its massive proposed investment in the Aynak copper mine.
In all these areas, however, co-operation is hampered by strategic distrust and profound differences. Cynics think that China’s interest in the TiSA, for example, is that of a spoiler. The Chinese want the Americans to go back to long-stalled talks with North Korea and regional powers; the Americans want the North first to promise to get rid of its nuclear arsenal. In Syria, China opposes any threat of military action against the Assad regime. And it is unclear just how it hopes to help stabilise Afghanistan. It remains officially wedded to a policy of non-interference, even as its new global weight makes that policy increasingly obsolete.
For all America’s constant refrain that it welcomes China’s rise, and has a vested interest in its prosperity, China’s leaders often seem unconvinced. The perpetual bugbear of America’s friendship with Taiwan is seen as an obstacle to “reunification” with the island. Nor do Americans necessarily believe Mr Wang when he says that China respects America’s “traditional influence and immediate interests” in the Asia-Pacific. The new sort of relationship is supposed to ease such suspicions. As John Kerry, the secretary of state, said before meeting Mr Wang, an important part of it is “a commitment to engage in frank discussions on sensitive issues, particularly where we disagree, where misunderstanding could lead to a miscalculation”. That is all to the good.
On the new model itself, however, the two sides often give the impression of talking past each other. Both agree that it is one where America has so far accommodated China’s rise. Where they may differ is over whether China agrees in return to continue to accept America’s role as the predominant military power, even in the Chinese backyard of the western Pacific. Americans find it hard to imagine why China, which has fared so well under the current arrangements, should want to challenge them.
02/10/2013
For China, Turkey missile deal a victory even if it doesn’t happen | Reuters
Turkey‘s $4 billion order for a Chinese missile defense system is a breakthrough for China in its bid to become a supplier of advanced weapons, even though opposition from Washington and NATO threatens to derail the deal.
The winning bid from the China Precision Machinery Import and Export Corp (CPMIEC) to deliver its FD-2000 air defense missile system in a joint production agreement with Turkey is the first time a Chinese supplier has won a major order for state-of-the-art equipment from a NATO member. U.S., Russian and Western European manufacturers were also in the fray.
The decision last week to award the contract to CPMIEC, a company that is under U.S. sanctions for dealings with Iran, North Korea and Syria, surprised global arms trade experts and senior NATO officials.
“It is quite significant I would say, if it materializes,” said Oliver Brauner, a researcher on China’s arms exports at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).”It would certainly be a landmark deal.”
Turkey signaled on Monday that it could back away from its decision after Washington said it had “serious concerns” about the deal with a sanctioned company for a system that would not be compatible with NATO’s other weapons and networks.
And, in a reminder that Ankara faces stiff opposition from its alliance partners in Europe, a NATO official in Brussels said it was important that equipment ordered by member countries is compatible.
“It is premature at this stage to say whether Turkey’s acquisition will be able to operate with the NATO Integrated Air and Missile Defence System,” the official said.
NATO’s disappointment with Turkey is heightened by the fact that the United States, Germany and the Netherlands each sent two Patriot batteries earlier this year after Ankara asked for help in beefing up its air defenses against the threat of missiles from Syria.
Ankara could call off the air defense deal under pressure, but some Chinese and foreign commentators suggested it would still be a symbolic victory for Beijing.
They say Turkey’s willingness to choose the FD-2000 over established rivals confirms the rapid technical improvement and competitiveness of China’s missile and aerospace sector.
Chinese military experts say the system performed well in live tests for the Turkish Defence Ministry.
It also signals that China’s sprawling defense industry is poised to become a low cost supplier of high technology weaponry alongside its rapidly expanding sales of basic military equipment including small arms, artillery, armored vehicles, general purpose vehicles and older generation missiles.
via For China, Turkey missile deal a victory even if it doesn’t happen | Reuters.
See also:
01/10/2013
China-U.S. Military Ties Grow as They Eye Each Other at Sea – Bloomberg
China’s official People’s Daily newspaper lambasted the U.S. when it led the most recent RIMPAC naval drill, the Pacific Ocean military simulation held every other year. The 22-nation exercise reflected Washington’s bid to “contain the military rise of another country,” it said.
Next year, Chinese ships will join the Rim of the Pacific exercise for the first time. During a visit to the Pentagon last month, Foreign Minister Wang Yi described military ties as a “bright spot” in the U.S.-China relationship.
Enlarge image
Chinese sailors stand on board a frigate berthed in Shanghai. Photographer: Guillaume Klein/AFP/Getty Images
Wang’s words and China’s participation reflect a changed attitude as the world’s two biggest militaries boost contacts despite competing for influence in the Asia-Pacific, home to shipping lanes and resource reserves. The closer ties will be tested as China grows more assertive in a region dotted with nations that would call for U.S. help if attacked.
“The competition and conflicts between China and the U.S. will still be there, but it will prevent them from escalating to an unmanageable level,” Yan Xuetong, dean of the Institute of Modern International Relations at Tsinghua University in Beijing, said by phone. “It is preventable diplomacy rather than positive cooperation.”
U.S.-China ties will be on display at next week’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum leaders meeting in Bali. China’s territorial disputes in the South China Sea may be discussed, along with changing U.S. and Chinese roles in the region.
Rising Competition
Military competition between the the U.S. and China is on the rise even as the two foster closer links, with China’s defense budget more than doubling since 2006. Though its military spending is less than one-fifth of the U.S., China has developed drones, stealth fighters and an aircraft carrier while deploying a type of anti-ship ballistic missile the U.S. says is meant to threaten U.S. carriers in the region.
That buildout comes as China has pushed its territorial claims more forcefully in the South and East China seas and as the U.S. Navy plans to move more forces to the region in a strategic shift. Four Chinese Coast Guard ships entered Japan-controlled waters around disputed islands about 9 a.m. and left about 11 a.m. today, Japan’s Coast Guard said in e-mailed statements.
China’s naval expansion “is largely about countering” the U.S. Pacific Fleet, Captain James Fanell, deputy chief of staff for intelligence and information operations at the U.S. Pacific Fleet headquarters in Hawaii, said in a January presentation at a conference in San Diego.
Mutual Defense
“They want to have the capability to make sure that events do not occur in those three seas that they do not approve of,” said Bernard Cole, a former Navy officer who teaches at the National War College in Washington, referring to the Yellow, East and South China seas. “The problem from a U.S. perspective is that we have mutual defense treaties with South Korea, Japan and the Philippines.”
Recent contacts offer a counterpoint to unease on both sides. In August, China’s Defense Minister Chang Wanquan visited the Pentagon and the commander of China’s navy, Admiral Wu Shengli, got a tour of a U.S. Los Angeles-class attack submarine in San Diego in September. Also last month, three Chinese ships joined search-and-rescue exercises with the U.S. off Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
RIMPAC is held by the U.S. Pacific Fleet in seas around the Hawaiian islands. The exercises once trained for conflict with the Soviet Union and later included Russia as a participant. China was an observer to the drills in 1998.
Attend Exercise
Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi announced China would attend the exercise after a summit between President Barack Obama and President Xi Jinping in California in June. During the talks, the two vowed to build “a new type of military relations,” Yang said, according to the official Xinhua News Agency.
“This is to us a very visible manifestation of the idea that a rising China can provide a positive contribution to international security,” U.S. Undersecretary of Defense for Policy James Miller said of China’s participation in RIMPAC when he visited Beijing Sept. 10.
Still, closer ties between the U.S. and the People’s Liberation Army can be reversed, Richard Bitzinger, a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, said by phone. The visits and the RIMPAC exercises are the “warm fuzzies of military diplomacy,” he said.
U.S. reconnaissance as well as arms sales to Taiwan remain problems in the military relationship with China, Zhao Xiaozhuo, a researcher with the PLA Academy of Military Science, wrote in the People’s Daily in August.
Sensitive Information
China’s participation in RIMPAC sparked concern in the U.S. Rep. Randy Forbes, a Virginia Republican, introduced an amendment to the 2014 National Defense Authorization Act seeking to limit Chinese exposure to “sensitive information obtained through military-to-military contacts.”
“This it not like turning over an entirely new leaf, this is just one small step forward to develop a slightly more positive relationship with the PLA,” Bitzinger said. “There’s going to be steps forward and steps backward. And every time there’s a step backward generally U.S.-allied ties get stronger.”
via China-U.S. Military Ties Grow as They Eye Each Other at Sea – Bloomberg.
30/09/2013
Xi Jinping hopes traditional faiths can fill moral void in China | South China Morning Post
President Xi Jinping believes China is losing its moral compass and he wants the ruling Communist Party to be more tolerant of traditional faiths in the hope these will help fill a vacuum created by the country’s breakneck growth and rush to get rich, sources said.
Xi, who grew up in Mao’s puritan China, is troubled by what he sees as the country’s moral decline and obsession with money, said three independent sources with ties to the leadership.
He hopes China’s “traditional cultures” or faiths – Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism – will help fill a void that has allowed corruption to flourish, the sources said.
Sceptics see it as a cynical move to try to curb rising social unrest and perpetuate one-party rule.
A monk in a temple in Jiaxing, Zhejiang province. President Xi Jinping wants the ruling Communist Party to be more tolerant of traditional faiths. Photo: Reuters
During the early years under Communism, China’s crime rate was low and corruption rare. By contrast, between 2008 and last year about 143,000 government officials – or an average of 78 a day – were convicted of graft or dereliction of duty, according to a Supreme Court report to parliament in March.
Xi intensified an anti-corruption campaign when he became party and military chief in November, but experts say only deep and difficult political reforms will make a difference.
Meanwhile, barely a day goes by without soul-searching on the internet over what some see as a moral numbness in China – whether it’s over graft, the rampant sale of adulterated food or incidents such as when a woman gouged out the eyes of her six-year-old nephew this month for unknown reasons.
“Xi understands that the anti-corruption (drive) can only cure symptoms and that reform of the political system and faiths are needed to cure the disease of corruption,” one of the sources told Reuters, requesting anonymity to avoid repercussions for discussing elite politics.
via Xi Jinping hopes traditional faiths can fill moral void in China | South China Morning Post.
See also:
30/09/2013
India and Pakistan Agree to Take Steps to Ease Tension – WSJ.com
India and Pakistan have agreed to take steps to reduce tension on the disputed part of their border, in a much-anticipated meeting that senior officials said made advances in the tense relations between these nuclear-armed neighbors.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif met in New York on Sunday on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. The talks went better than expected, officials from both sides said.
A series of deadly events in the weeks leading to the discussions had heightened tensions in the countries’ already-fraught relationship.
Washington believes normalizing relations between India and Pakistan would help stabilize the region, as the hostility between the two countries feeds a detrimental competition for influence in Afghanistan. And Islamabad‘s concern over its eastern border with India prevents it from dealing with the al Qaeda-influenced militant groups that menace its northwest.
“There is clearly a desire from both sides to have a much better relationship,” said India’s national security adviser, Shivshankar Menon, briefing reporters after the meeting. “We have actually achieved a new stage; we do have some understanding on how to move forward.”
Earlier Pakistan Extends Olive Branch to India. Mr. Sharif, who came to power in June and has a history of pursuing peace with India, had asked for the meeting.
For his part, Mr. Singh has a record of defying hawks at home to reach out to Pakistan. But how far he can go is limited by elections his party faces in India next year. Any supposed softness on Pakistan will be exploited by his conservative opponents.
via India and Pakistan Agree to Take Steps to Ease Tension – WSJ.com.
See also: https://chindia-alert.org/political-factors/indian-tensions/
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